Pool-playing robot + ARpool

Enjoy losing at pool? Well the folks at Queen’s University just made it a whole lot easier. The Deep Green robot was created with the purpose of playing a flawless game, allowing it to beat even the most skilled human players. More than a couple of research papers have been written on the project. A ceiling-mounted Canon 350D tracks the position of all of the balls, in addition to another cue-mounted cam (for higher shot accuracy). Using a bunch of calculations, and a computer (probably more advanced than an Arduino), the Deep Green is able to strategize and play. Very well.

On a positive note, another team from Queens is working on a seperate but related project: ARpool (as in augmented reality). It was created to make playing pool easier. The website does not provide much info, but it seems to project different moves onto the pool table, allowing an inexperienced player to tell whether a shot is at all possible.

I’m surprised that augmented reality pool hasn’t been done very much, you figure it’d be a very helpful training tool, not to mention the clearly marked balls, plain colored background, and controlled lighting environment make it PERFECT for automated video processing..

If you play much pool, you know that augmented reality pool will never be accurate. So much of the outcome depends on the movement speed, steadyness, etc, of your cue. Humans are not very repeatable or accurate. Still a cool idea. I imagine the Deep Green project could achieve some incredible accuracy if it knows the table characteristics.

My masters thesis was on mixed reality billiards. One used a real cue stick, a real cue ball, and a camera to play virtual billiards. The idea was that one could practice and gain muscle memory while at home without a billiards table.

The AR pool stuff has been done already, yes. I cited the original work in my thesis.